Ranks of billionaires increase in China

BEIJING: The number of dollar billionaires in China has passed 300 for the first time, an annual ranking of wealth in the world’s second-largest economy showed on Wednesday.

The Hurun Report, a luxury magazine publisher, named property tycoon Wang Jianlin as China’s new richest person, saying he had more than doubled his worth to $22 billion.

There were a total of 315 dollar billionaires in the country, it said, up by 64 from a year ago.

The average fortune of the top 1,000 stood at $1.04 billion—more than double their $440 million during the global financial crisis five years ago.
But some were dogged by scandal.

Three of last year’s 10 richest people in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, have been detained amid a corruption crackdown in the province.

Two others on the list are in prison, while Xu Ming, who joined this year at no. 676 with $490 million, was a key witness against Bo Xilai last month in China’s biggest political corruption trial in decades.

According to court transcripts, Xu said that he gave the former senior politician 21 million yuan ($3.4 million) in bribes, including purchasing a villa in the French resort of Cannes for Bo’s wife.

Real estate businesswoman and recent divorcee Wu Yajun fell from no. 8 to no. 22, and her wealth dropped nearly a quarter to $4.6 billion after she gave her ex-husband $3 billion—propelling him into the Top 50 in his own right.

Hurun called the transaction “the most expensive divorce settlement from a wife to her husband.”

Real estate was the biggest source of ultrarich fortunes, led by Wang, whose conglomerate Wanda Group recently also acquired the US cinema chain AMC Entertainment and a luxury British yacht builder.

But Lei Jun of mobile phone maker Xiaomi rose the fastest on the 2013 rankings after his worth shot up seven-fold to $2.6 billion.

Wang was also named as China’s richest man by Forbes magazine earlier this week, which estimated his wealth at $14 billion.